Your numbers
What a data analyst should include in expenses
Typical costs include analytics software, cloud credits, courses. Add your own and keep receipts for tax time.
Where unbilled time goes
Data Analysts commonly lose billable hours to data cleaning, requirement gathering and presentations. Count these when choosing your billable hours per week.
Pricing models
Common choices are hourly, fixed projects for dashboards and monthly reporting retainers.
Tip: Data cleaning often takes the largest share of time; estimate it explicitly.
The math
Gross revenue = ($95,000 + $5,000) ÷ 0.72 = $138,889. Billable hours = (52 − 5) × 25 = 1,175. Minimum rate = $138,889 ÷ 1,175 = $118 per hour. See the methodology. Example inputs are illustrations, not market data.
General hourly rate calculator · Tax set-aside · Retainer pricing · All professions
Frequently asked questions
What should a data analyst charge per hour?
It depends on your target income, costs and billable time. With $95,000 take-home, $5,000 expenses, a 28% tax set-aside, 5 weeks off and 25 billable hours a week, the minimum comes to about $118 per hour. These are example inputs, so enter your own.
How many billable hours does a data analyst really have?
Many freelancers bill fewer hours than they work because of data cleaning, requirement gathering and presentations. The example uses 25 billable hours a week; track your own time to find your number.
How should a data analyst price work?
Common models are hourly, fixed projects for dashboards and monthly reporting retainers.
Is this the rate I should quote?
No. It is the minimum that meets your targets. Add margin for demand, specialty and risk.